ngdon, who was fifteen or twenty yards in advance
of his companions. David made up his mind quickly to take Langdon first,
and to follow up with others who carried rifles. Hauck and Brokaw,
unarmed with guns, were least dangerous just at present. He would get
Brokaw with his fifth shot--the sixth if he made a miss with the fifth.

A thin strip of shale marked his 100-yard dead-line, and the instant
Langdon set his foot on this David fired. He was scarcely conscious of
the yell of defiance that rang from his lips as Langdon whirled in his
tracks and pitched down among the men behind him. He rose up boldly from
behind the rock and fired again. In that huddled and astonished mass he
could not miss. A shriek came up to him. He fired a third time, and he
heard a joyous cry of triumph beside him as their enemies rushed for
safety toward the dip from which they had just climbed. A fourth shot,
and he picked out Brokaw. Twice he missed! His gun was empty when Brokaw
lunged out of view. Langdon remained an inanimate blotch on the strip of
shale. A few steps below him was a second body. A third man was dragging
himself on hands and knees over the crest of the _coulee_. Three--with
six shots! And he had missed Brokaw! Inwardly David groaned as he caught
the Girl by the arm and hurried with her into the cabin, followed by
Baree.

They were not a moment too soon. From over the edge of the _coulee_ came
a fusillade of shots from the heavy-calibre weapons of the mountain men
that sent out sparks of fire from the rock.

As he thrust the remaining five cartridges into the chamber of Nisikoos'
rifle, David looked about the cabin. In one of the farther corners the
huge grizzly sat on his quarters as motionless as if stuffed. In the
centre of the single room was an old box stove partly fallen to pieces.
That was all. Marge had dropped the sapling bar across the door, and
stood with her back against it. There was no window, and the closing of
the door had shut out most of the light. He could see that she was
breathing quickly, and the wonderful light that had come into her eyes
behind the rock was still glowing at him in the half gloom. It gave him
fresh confidence to see her standing like that, looking at him in that
way, telling him without words that a thing had come into her life which
had lifted her above fear. He went to her and took her in his arms
again, and again he kissed her sweet mouth, and felt her heart beating
against him,